DIY Pintuck Duvet

It’s amazing how resourceful you can get when you’re on a limited budget. Can I get an amen to that?

When a few friends and I went in on a little flashmob surprise room makeover for a friend, we were workin’ with a miniature little budget. We pulled the whole room together for about $250, so spending lots of cash on fancy bedding was out for us. We still wanted something textural, so I tried my hand at a DIY version of a pintuck duvet.
You might’ve seen these pintuck duvets at West Elm for $99 – $139:
Mine ended up costing about $23. It could’ve been cheaper if I’d found cheaper sheets, but the best I could do on short notice was two flat sheets from walmart for $11.50 each. (Ikea has them on their website for $4 each, but they didn’t have any at my store. One of the associates there said they’re going to stop selling them! Bummer! But your store might still have some.) Thrifted sheets could work, or any spare flat sheets you have laying around.

Materials

Two flat sheets the same size. This duvet is for a queen bed and I used queen sheets. If I could do it again, I’d use king-size sheets for a queen bed.

Buttons or snaps or any kind of closure you want

Ummm… thread? This list was embarrassingly short so I added thread to it.

1. Iron your sheet

Possibly the most time-consuming part of this whole project. Easily the most dreadful part. But that’s coming from someone who would rather change my entire outfit than have to iron one garment.

2. Mark your pintucks

Lay your flat sheet on the floor, good side down.
Now you’ll measure and mark where you want your pintucks to go. I just grabbed a magazine because it was within reach, and used it to measure how far apart the pintucks are from each other. (Seriously, this is the height of laziness. I could’ve easily used the measuring tape, but nope: we’re working in magazine widths today.)
The pintucks on the first row are one magazine width apart (haha) and 12 inches from the bottom of the sheet.

To mark each pintuck, just stick a little pin in that spot.
When you have the pintuck spots pinned on the first row, move another 12 inches up (or however far you want) and mark the next row. I offset the next row by about 6 inches. It’s hard to see the pins in the photos, so I marked them with tiny red explosions for you. (Which, in retrospect, look a little more like blood spatters than I intended… awkward. No blood was shed in the creation of this duvet.)
There’s really nothing magical about the measurements I used. If you add more pintucks and put them closer together, your duvet will be a little floofier. If you put them further apart, it’ll be a little flatter. “Floofy” is a term we all know, right? Is that a real thing?

Sew your pintucks

Once your pintucks are all marked with little pins, grab that little spot of sheet and twist into a little fabric tornado (technical term).
I twisted it about twice, but if you want your pintucks to be deeper/floofier, twist it a little more so your fabric tornado is longer. Then just sew back and forth over your tornado to make it stay put.
Do the same thing with all your pintucks that you’d pinned.

Sew on the other flat sheet

Now you’re basically just sewing an oversized pillowcase. Put your other flat sheet on the floor, good side up. Then lay your pintucked sheet on top of it, good side down, and pin it together. Sew three sides together.

Sew part of the fourth side. I think I sewed about nine inches in on each side.

Close the fourth side

Then use your method of choice to close the rest of the fourth side: buttons, snaps, whatev. You need to leave this side open so you can insert your comforter so just don’t sew it all the way closed! I’ve literally never sewn a button in my life and my friend Sarah had these little snaps on hand so we just used what we had.
These snaps are made for cloth diapers and I’m sure most people don’t have them lying around so I’ll spare you the step-by-step, but you can just use any old buttons or even a zipper to close this side if you want.

Then just insert your comforter and admire!

If I could do it again, I’d use bigger sheets so the whole comforter is bigger. I also wish I’d had more time to make like 5000 pintucks so it’s super-floof-tastic and extra textural.

Have you ever made your own bedding? Can we agree to make floofy a real word?

P.S.: If you like this post, you’ll LOVE these amazing DIY curtain ideas!

Uhhh, WOW. I feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me, you know?!? It never even crossed my mind that you could DIY a pintuck duvet and that it would be SO EASY. So, thanks for opening my eyes.

“Floofy” must be a proper technical term–I knew what you meant right away, so it must be correct, right?
This is beautiful and is now something I’m considering doing! Wouldn’t have even crossed my mind before this. Beautiful!
And great job on the entire room! I am trying to learn how to decorate so I appreciate all your posts about what to do and how to figure out what you like!

I actually prefer a little less floofiness (yes, we use that word at our house, too), so I like the spacing you used on your duvet. I have seen a lot of pin tuck duvets lately and really like the look. I love the white in this room. The whole room looks great!

/*@&*#-@’#’# !!!!! And also, )%+@/#,#)# !!!!! (The translation is excitement, not cursing)
I have soooo many flat sheets just waiting for their destiny as duvet covers! We don’t use flat sheets because my hubby doesn’t like them. (He says his feet feel like prisoners?) I bet I even have enough to make pintucked SHAMS. Glorious!
The only thing I will need to purchase is an iron. I am also a dryer-dewrinkler.

I recently purchased that syle of duvet from Target – I had no idea that I could have easily made it myself!! Thanks for sharing this tutorial, your instructions are great. And yes, “floofy” is a term that I know and use all the time

WHAT?! I cannot even believe that you made that duvet, or that it was so easy. It looks…perfect. Seriously. I’m like that guy in the AT&T commercials right now….*mind. blown.* Awesome job!! (And yes…floofy is definitely a word in my vocabulary, too.)

SHUT UP. YOU DID NOT MAKE THAT. Ok, I’m relenting because clearly you have shown the step by step and you’ve made it look freakishly easy. It honestly looks AMAZING and I can’t seem to find that style of sheet anywhere in this country and now I WANT ONE. Oh my god, yeah, this is getting pinned til it HURTS baby. Awesome job. And apologies that I didn’t comment on the reveal of the room but goodness, you guys did an amazing job!! Your friend is so lucky to have such stylish mates (and you’re lucky to have mates that wanted to do it with you!! My friends are not so much into decor) xxx

A) I love white bedding. B) I love your DIY pintuck duvet. C) I have the west elm version in our master bedroom (in white, of course) and I swear your tornado stitching is waaaay sturdier than the stitching on the original. Nice work, girl!

That looks so much easier than I would have ever thought! Definitely would be a fun project to try and even something nice as a housewarming gift for a close friend! I’m pinning this now before I forget!

I bought a really nice duvet cover for our King bed last year after my husband and I got married…and we hate it. This may be an affordable (and adorable) solution! Thank you so much for this awesome tutorial!

I never thought of using sheets to make a duvet cover. That’s sort of brilliant. I abandoned my thought of attempting my own because I was lazy and also couldn’t find fabric wide enough. Duhhhh Erin. It looks fabulous!

wow. that must have taken you forever to do!!! and I have to say it is so beautiful, so yes it was worth it (to us!!)! I am getting a visual of this monster sized pillow case draped all over your sewing machine as you zing zing one more stitch, move it, zing zing, move it…ugh. did it seriously take a long time? (btw my sewing skills are so bad on a machine, I close the machine and do it by hand)
I love it! it’s beautiful my friend!

Hi! Forgive me if someone else has already asked this question, but what would you recommend for a king-sized bed? Would it not be enough fabric – i.e. too short? Love this – you did a wonderful job and I want that entire room!!!

A California King bed isn’t all-around bigger than a regular king. A Cal King is longer, yet narrower. A regular king is wider, yet shorter. A regular king actually has a few more inches of surface area than a Cal King. Unfortunately, I don’t think this project would work for a king sized comforter. King sized sheets would end up being too small once you put in the pin tucks.

Totally going to try this! I bought the West Elm set…and I’m so sad to say it didn’t last even 6 months. The pin tucks ripped like paper and left big holes all over the duvet!! Every time I made the bed, I’d hear another one rip. But I loved the look so I’d love to replace it (it’s been another 6 months and we still have no comforter on our bed since we threw out the West Elm one!).

Um this is AMAZING! I have been wanting to make a new duvet cover for my comforter but didn’t know how to go about it. This is PERFECT!
thank you for the great step by step tutorial. I may be tackling this one over the weekend
Keia

This looks great! I’ve always been a fan of the floofy look myself. I think the only thing I would change is to put a tie thingy in the corners before sewing (ya know, so the duvet doesn’t slip around inside) Because heaven knows that if it’s not tied down before we go to sleep it ends up at the bottom of the bed – i.e. sheets, pillows, loose clothing… Yeah, apparently my husband and I are deep sleepers who do weird things in the middle of the night, because I always wake up scratching my head as to how I got on the other side of the bed and why my leg is completely wrapped in our top sheet.

Cannot wait to try this!! Love your “techincal terms”! Your little red explosions did look like blood splatters which, if I was doing it, it probably would be. I always seem to prick my finger over and over when I’m pinning things. I better try for a less “floofier” duvet at first.

Wow.
I’m so in love with this.
And so going to try it.
After I refinish the chair.
Mod podge the canvases.
Make the curtains.
And sew up some new pillows.
Never mind.
I might just come admire your picture a few more times and call it a day.
I seriously do love it though!

That.Is.FLOOFTASTIC! It seems pretty simple and I actually like the level of floofiness in yours, it looks less precious than some of the floofier ones I’ve seen. I have got to find a place to have some floof in my house. BTW, that is totally a word. Urban Dictionary says so, so it must be true, and I tried to use every form of it I could in this comment.
You constantly make me smile – that photo with the caption “helpful depiction of this step” even had me chuckling. So glad you share your sense of humor with us, it’s one of my favorite things about your blog. xoxo, Sharon

I’ve had my eye on this all week! Now it’s on my project list for next week when I give my master bedroom a little facelift. Love it! And yes…..I make up words all the time but occasionally someone will look it up in the urban dictionary and find it attached to a questionable meaning! Yikers!

The duvet turned out beautiful! I think I could handle making one because your instructions seem pretty easy to follow, but I have one question: is the top sheet with the pintucks smaller because of all the twisted up fabric? And therefor, does it fit perfectly on top of the other sheet so you can set it up like a pillow case? Just wondering! Thanks!

So we should just sew the ends together anyways and once we fill it, the size difference won’t be noticeable? I think that’s what you’re saying. When you say fill it with your comforter…what do you mean by that? Love it by the way!

Yes, exactly! When I say fill it with your comforter, I mean just put your comforter in there. It’s a duvet, so you want to put a comforter inside it. You can buy a down comforter or just use any one that you have in your house that’s the right size.

Ha! you knew I would have to comment on this I’m sure! The duvet is gorgeous, and I think you added just the right amount of Floof to it, If it was more floofier it would start to look like the inside of a coffin :/ and then your friend would have to check on her husband when he was sleeping just to make sure he was still breathing! And I would have gone with the king size sheets too, It would look gorgeous, floofy, yet not too floofy and give it a very dramatic look. My Sisters and I have been using the word floofy for years ~ so as far as I’m concerned it’s a genuine word and I’m adding it to my dictionary right now as we speak! Thank you again, for making my day! Hope you have a great weekend!

I had been eyeing those pintuck duvet DIY’s for a while until I decided that a) it was too feminine for our bedroom’s style and b) I couldn’t get big enough flat sheets to cover our cal king bed. Awesome tutorial though, I always love your touches of personality… blood red explosions, cloth tornadoes, and the beautifully lazy/creative magazine measurements. That’s my kind of DIY.

I’ve been so excited to read this! What a great idea! I am planning on doing this for our guest room! Thanks for sharing! P.S. I love the “magazine measuring” – I can never seem to find a tape measure when I need one so I measure in all kinds of things I have within reach… books, feet, hands, coffee cups.. well you get my point, HA! I enjoyed that!

I love, love, love this look. I have a king size bed as well, and am concerned that a king sheet will be too small. I can check out the 108″ fabric from JoAnn — that might be a good alternative. Another might be to add a colored or print border when you sew the backing on — maybe only around 3 sides, since the top will be covered with great matching shams (right?!!) Or, since I have a girlie bedroom — perhaps eyelet or lace edging. Not too much – so as not to detract from the pintucks — but I think it will work. Thanks so much for sharing this great idea!!

Um, West Elm called. They want their overpriced, but oh-so-gorgeous pintuck duvet back. Wait a minute…you made that? For $23? And coined terms like “floofy” and “fabric tornado” in the process? You are my sewing hero.

Definitely going to be saving this post for future reference! LOVE it! I’ve been wanting one of these pintuck duvet covers but they’re usually so expensive (I’m a thrifty one too!)

But hey I can sew quite well so this outta be a snap for me. Oh…and wanna know a secret? Everytime I took our duvet cover off to launder, I had to wrangle the comforter back in and it was so frustrating! So I figured I’ll just put the duvet cover OVER the comforter instead of the comforter inside. Looks almost as nice and it’s much easier to whip off for washing

Man I do so love this! Thanks for posting! I think I might have a fall sewing project on the rise

This is gold! i have to do this – probably this weekend. My partner will roll his eyes I’m sure at another project must-do for my list! He wont complain out the cheap cheap outlay though i’m certain of that

I just made one of these thanks to your post. And it looks AHHH-mazing! I’m in love with it! I’ve been searching for something not to expensive for my bedroom for a while… since it may end up changed when we do reno’s. But I loved this so much I just HADDDDDD to make it!

Totally submitting “super-floof-tastic” for inclusion in the next edition of Webster’s Dictionary. That needs to be a real life everyday word Also, totally making a pintuck duvet for everyone I know, like ASAP!!

I have coveted the West Elm Pintuck duvet cover FOREVER! Never thought of trying it myself. Genius idea and great tutorial. Flat sheets are now on my shopping list. I have also bookmarked your site for future idea stealing. Kudos!

Hey Kelly! I have just discovered your blog from Virginia’s recent post, and I have to say, I love everything that you do!! And this particular project takes the cake for me… I am so excited to try making this duvet cover for our bedroom at our new house!! Thanks so much for sharing your projects and I can’t wait to read more!

I am inspired. I just visited my sister-in-love and she had wonderful duvets on her bed. Also, my daughter has been wanting to redo her room. When I saw you ad a budget of $250, I thought, “Hmmm. I can give her a budget, and she can redecorate to her heart’s content – as far as the budget will go. As for ironing, when in college, I just took the outfit for the day into the shower so the wrinkles could steam out. Just keepin it real! : ) Thanks for sharing!

I am so doing this! My 2 year old just had a party with a bottle of blue paint all over my duvet so I’ll need a new one! Would you please expound upon your comment about using king sheets for a queen duvet? Thanks for sharing!

I would suggest that the “floofier” (?) you make it, the bigger the sheet must be. Ie. a SUPER-FLOOFY one that fits a double bed would be possibly made with a king sheet. I’d almost suggest pinning and floofing from the centre outwards to see how big it is then trim it down if need be (both top and bottom). Great idea and a lovely way to add subtle texture to a solid colour field in the bedroom. Thank you!

Just wanted to let you know, I made my duvet cover yesterday, and it’s incredibly gorgeous!! For those who were asking about making it for a king or California king, I made mine for a California king by using two California king top sheets. The size of regular king and California king top sheets, at least on Walmart.com, is the same, but I went with the California king so my daughter could use the fitted sheets on her bed.

Because, yes, I ended up going with sheet sets. We chose microfiber because we wanted something super soft and with a silky sheen, and those only came in sets and were still pretty cheap. I think under $20 for the whole set.

Soooo… I made a cardboard rectangle that was 8 x 9. There was no reason for those measurements other than I knew I wanted mine smaller than a foot. I measured the whole sheet and started out using pins but quickly decided that was taking too long, so I switched to a white colored pencil which worked beautifully on my black sheets. I did all my little fabric tornadoes and sewed them at 5/8 inch on my machine.

I was VERY scared that I would have made it too small and was prepared to add some sort of border BUT I had purchased a down substitute comforter from Walmart.com to fill it, and when I laid them out, my topper almost EXACTLY covered it. My solution to make it exact was to undo the wide hem at the top of the sheet I had previously left in and add a few more pin tucks along that edge to make it match. Now it IS PERFECT!

Next I’m going to use my four pillow shams from the two sets to make two pin tucked pillow shams.

Thanks so much for the ideas! We couldn’t find anything that we loved and could afford for her room. Especially for a california kimg. Now she has incredibly expensive looking bedding that she adores!

I love u r duvet cover. I made a bedspread for our son when he was young…I machine embroidery a Corvette in the center on blue demin then made the bedspread. @ the time the was nothing on the market for a boys room that was durable. I made a quilt out of light blue dotted swiss for our daughter. With each bed cover I made pinched pleated drapes to match. I still have the bedspread, but the comforter had to be tossed…too much love.

That looks so great! I want to do one of my own for our King-sized bed! Question: how did the pintucked sheet fit the same on the non-pintucked sheet? I would think the pintucked sheet would be smaller. How does that work? Thanks!

I have the west elm set in white and I am super unimpressed. It is really flat and the stitches are ridiculously easy to pull out. To top it off, the button closure at the bottom has more than half the buttons broken!!! And that was the second time i used it after washing. I’m going to try this in a different color. I’m sure it will hold up much better!

I just finished my king-sized duvet covers itch king-sized sheets and I love it! I surprised my hubby with it and he even likes it. It was very easy to make. I had to rip the stitches out of the 4″ top hem of the sheets to make it big enough but it was easy to do. The pin-tucked sheet did end up a bit smaller than the bottom sheet but the extra length gets hidden inside anyways when you sew them together. Now I just need a tutorial on how to put the zipper in…I didn’t have time today so I left it for tomorrow. Thanks again for sharing!!!

I just found this great tutorial on how to install the zipper without a zipper foot. I have an older style Bernina and it is very hard to come by the old presser feet for my machine so I have no choice but to use a standard foot for my zipper insertion. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC_tvQcHyG0

thanks so much for this tutorial.. we actually cloth diaper and I sew cloth diapers so I even have the KAM snaps lol now to locate them we are moving so I already packed them may have a project for today yeah!!!

Working on our own version of this now, I love it We chose colored sheets for ours, a tan and a red. We bought a king sheet for our queen bed, and I suggest it. I did pintucks every ten inches, so it shrunk the sheet up a bit, not sure a queen sheet would give the hanging sides that I personally like.

I have been wanting new bedding for my guest bedroom for a while now. I just have a hard time spending on that money on a bed that is only slept in a few times year. I will definitely be trying this! Thank you!

i love this tutorial! I do have a question: do you pin tuck the front and back? If not isn’t the front slightly smaller than the back (because of the pin tucks)? Or does it not make a difference when lining up the front and back?

How do you think this would work with a King size sheets? I have a king size bed and would LOVE to make this! Its so great- but want to make sure it will fit my comforter. Also how many pin tucks do you think there is totally to make a really fluffy one? thanks!

I think you technically could use a king sheet and it could work (I used a queen sheet for a queen sized bed and it was okay — just a little smaller than I would’ve liked but workable.) You might be able to use California King sheets, or just find sheets that happen to be a little on the large size of King? I have no idea on the pintuck number! I’d guess there were about 50 on mine… you could add just a couple more, or you could add twice as many, or anywhere in between.

What a fantastic DIY! I have been looking at Duvet covers for what feels like months now, and all the ones that I have fallen “in love” with, I just couldn’t justify spending so much money on something that looked so easy to make. I made my duvet tonight and love it! They only thing I added were ties on the inside to fasten the duvet and the cover together. I made mine in a handsome slate grey and I feel like it makes the whole room pop! Thank you so much! <3

OMG-love it! so easy. I wish I had seen this before I went head first into a California King bedroom set that my daughter found at Anthropology…no way could I afford it. So I bought yards and yards of deep blue suiting material, made the duvet, THEN I made nearly 250 separate rosettes using a silk organza in cobalt and a shimmery bronze, I then hand sewn each of those to the top in various groupings trailing across the cover. THEN, b/c I was not quite exhausted enough, I also made king pillow shams, 84″ length drapes and throw pillows…even though I saved a ton by diy, I still spent like $400 in materials…it was like I was never done and had to restock materials….never again. It took on a life of it’s own and I was still sewing on Christmas Eve. After all was said and done, it turned out to be amazing, even the ladies at the local fabric stored were terribly invested in the outcome of this project and made me promise to preview it to them…sure, for a fee ladies. 25% cha-ching! But- I am so making your version for my bed–thank you…great projects! Personally, I think your terminology is spot on as well as your added commentary! Keep it up!

My advice, definitely use a king size (or california king if you can find it) for the top. My tucks were 8.5 inches apart, which made it incredibly floofy. The problem was, the bottom sheet was then entirely too large. All those tucks take up a lot of fabric! So you could save yourself some money by buying a queen size sheet for the bottom of the duvet. Otherwise, everything worked out exactly as you described in your tutorial. I even got fancy and sewed buttons and buttonholes on my sewing machine. Fun project, and gorgeous results!

I have a king bed and I like long comforters, so if i was to do this project i would have to sew either two queen or two king sheets together im worried about the seam that will be down the middle. I thought maybe using two different colours and half them and use quarters so same colour is diagaonally from its mate then having my first tornado in the very center where all four corners meet. Could also use a solid and a print in same colour.

Hi! I saw one of your pins on Pinterest! And have been looking at …(dare I say, stalking) your blog. You have such cute and awesome ideas. Just wanted to thank you for all the inspiration and motivation!! There are quite a few of your DIY projects that I’m going to copy…including this one!! Love it!! Thanks for posting this!!

Love this! I found king sized sheets at a thrift store (one for the bottom layer is deep red, and the one for the top with the pin tucks has a splotchy gray pattern). I’ve been using a laundry marker instead of pins. This way I don’t poke myself nearly as often, and I don’t have to worry about losing pins (which I also do quite often.)

This turned out so great and looks easy to do.
Noted comment about hindsight using king size. Is this because of the drop length for finished duvet?
I’m considering for twin beds and wondering if I should buy full sheets?

Wow… just an hour ago I was scratching my head trying to find a way to make beautiful cushion covers and look at what amazing idea I got from you. I definitly will make use of this idea. Thank you so much lady…u rock big time!!!

If you want a generous sized King Duvet, then buy 2 queen flat sheets. Cut two strips from one of your queen sheets in equal widths lengthwise. King and queen flat sheets are the exact same length. How much wider you want the finished width to be is up to you. Pin tucking does NOT CHANGE THE LENGTH. Sew to the sides of the intact queen sheet…French seams look great but not necessary. Use the sheet you have sewn the extra widths from for the pin tucking. King flat is 108″, a queen is 90″ . This gives you up a lot of choice in how wide you want your duvet. You will have enough fabric left over for no sew pillows or other projects to match your bedroom. I usually cut my the queen into two 20 ” lengths. This gives me about 118″ wide Duvet cover (with seam allowances) . I have 50″ of 102″ length fabric for pillows, cornice boards, lampshade covers or whatever. If decorating a room, you will use it.

[…] make any changes to the furniture. We added the pintuck duvet, which was a DIY project! See how to make your own pintuck duvet right here. The pillows on the bed were from ikea, and the one on the little orange chair was a last-minute […]

[…] I was ready for something a little different. I have admired the pin-tuck look and really wanted to try for myself but the need to immediately change (and the gift card) found me this great little bedspread. Maybe […]

[…] we have yet to find a headboard and duvet the fits the look and PRICE I want. Yesterday I found this link that looks very similar to some Anthropologie and West Elm finds; pintuck coverlet. These […]

[…] So, I have redecorated our room 3 times since I moved here in October. That’s why I love duvet covers–it’s super easy to change just the cover and pillowcases and have a completely different room. Dylan doesn’t get it, but that’s not the important part. The important part is that he is okay with it as long as it is done in a thrifty fashion! (Points for him–he considers anything craft- or sewing-related to be a good investment in keeping me busy. Bored me is a very grouchy me.) This particular re-do cost about $25–two queen-sized flat sheets from WalMart and a pair of matching pillowcases. I LOVE that WalMart sells mix-n-match sheets separately, instead of making you buy the entire sheet set when you don’t WANT the fitted sheet. (Who wants to wrestle with folding those suckers up once they are out of the package? Not me!) I used this tutorial here: http://www.viewalongtheway.com/2013/06/diy-pintuck-duvet/ […]

[…] of $20 and is exactly what I wanted. The tutorial for the duvet cover comes from the lovely blog, View Along the Way (click to go straight to the tutorial). I could not be more pleased. The grey and white pillow […]

Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way... (more)